Cloths containing an organic fiber such as a polyester fiber are widely used for various clothes such as uniforms, white coats and other apparel. In the use of such clothes, a method for preventing the cloth from getting dirty, a method for making it easier to remove dirt on the cloth by washing and the like have been conventionally proposed as an antifouling technique.
For example, in SR (soil release) treatment method to coat the surface of the fiber constituting a cloth with an SR treatment agent and make the surface hydrophilic, the surface of the fiber becomes hydrophilic, and it becomes possible to remove dirt easily by washing. However, there has been a problem that it is not possible to prevent a fiber from getting dirty, when SR treatment is conducted on the fiber.
Further, in SG (soil guard) treatment method to coat the surface of a fiber with an oil repellent agent, the surface of the fiber becomes oil repellent, and it becomes possible to prevent the fiber from getting dirty. However, when SG treatment is conducted on a fiber, there has been a problem that the water-absorbing property of the fiber deteriorates because the fiber surface becomes water repellent, and the dirt becomes difficult to remove even by washing, while the fiber is less likely to get dirty. In this connection, an oil spot such as sebum causes the growth of bacteria, which is the cause of a bad smell, discoloration and the like.
Furthermore, SG/SR treatment in which a fluorine SR agent having a hydrophilic group and a fluorine SG agent having no hydrophilic group are used in combination has been also proposed (for example, please refer to Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). When SG/SR treatment is conducted on a fiber, however, the fiber becomes hydrophilic due to the SR agent, while the fiber becomes oil repellent due to the SG agent. Since the hydrophilic property and the oil repellency property are conflicting techniques, there has been a problem that the SG effect and the SR effect counteract each other.
On the other hand, in the use as clothes, it is required to improve the water-absorbing property of a cloth to improve the wearing comfort. However, because the water-absorbing property and the oil repellency property are conflicting properties, only a few cloths having both properties have been proposed so far.
In addition, it was recently found out that fluorine compounds such as perfluorooctanoic acid (which is sometimes called “PFOA”) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (which is sometimes called “PFOS”) may adversely affect the environment and living things, and the reduction thereof has become an issue. A textile product using a fluorine water repellent agent which does not contain such a compound or contains as little amount thereof as possible is desired.